MLB 2K9Review

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2K8 stranded runners in scoring position. Can this offering drive them home?

By Avi Burk

Last year 2K Sports took its first swing at MLB 2K for the Wii, and it was certainly a passable rookie effort. While last year's foray into the wild, wacky world of Wii was a decent first showing and appeared to build a strong foundation for future iterations of the franchise, it also had several gameplay and presentation issues that should have been addressed over the offseason. So, does MLB 2K9 have what it takes to bring home the MVP, or should it be sent back down to the minors?

I have to give credit where credit is due, and the development team at 2K China did an admirable job of bringing the same kind of deep simulation experience to the Wii that 2K Sports has been bringing to the PlayStation and Xbox consoles for years. MLB 2K9 for Wii isn't a dumbed-down, "kiddy" offering, but rather a fairly close approximation to what you'll find in MLB 2K9 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with a control scheme that takes advantage of the unique opportunities afforded by the Wii-mote.

Just as in last year's offering, MLB 2K9 challenges gamers to manage all aspects of the game – from setting a team's everyday lineups to maximize its effectiveness against right- and left-handed pitchers to throwing pitches in sequences that take the thunder out of opposing players' bats – and, encourages gamers to make use of "Inside Edge" information to boost their players' success against individual opposing players and teams.

Pick up your target, rock and fire.

This year's game also brings the fun of unlockable trading cards to the Wii for the first time, allowing gamers to unlock players, stadiums and uniforms by accomplishing specific in-game feats while playing as or against certain players and teams. Gamers can then use the trading cards they've unlocked to piece together their own teams. With 162 cards available to unlock, gamers can look forward to a nice, long road to acquiring the complete set and having the ability to pick and choose their team from the full complement of available talent.

However, MLB 2K9 still does not offer online play, which is a bit of a disappointment considering that the team at 2K said that the omission of the feature in last year's title was a calculated move to allow the team to spend more time focusing on gameplay mechanics and that it would definitely include online play in future editions of the franchise. Now, if it was the case that the development team had made significant changes to the gameplay mechanics in this, its second offering, then I would be more inclined to give it a pass on online play in 2K9. But, considering that most aspects of this game are identical to 2K8, I don't think that excuse ought to fly this time.

Swing, batter batter... swing!

Pitching in 2K9 is handled exactly the same way it was in 2K8. You aim your pitches by pointing with the Wii remote and select your pitch type using the analog stick. Once you've selected your pitch and its intended target, you press and hold the B button and tilt the Wii-mote upward to initiate your hurler's delivery, which brings up a collapsing target with red, yellow and green zones. For maximum pitch effectiveness, you'll want to stop the collapsing target while it's in the green, which is done by snapping the Wii-mote downward, just as a pitcher pulls his arm down in his throwing motion.

While I like the way that this mechanic is handled, I didn't feel like there was a high enough premium placed on keeping my pitches in the green. I found that even when my release point was in the yellow portion of the collapsing target that my pitches still had plenty of zip on them and didn't stray very far from their intended target. I also didn't care much for the prompts from my AI catcher, who offers suggested pitch types and locations before every offering. The catcher regularly called for pitches out of the strike zone in counts in which no real catcher would ever call for an offering out of the zone (such as 0-0 and 1-0 counts), and didn't do a very admirable job of mixing up pitch types and locations (often calling for two or three consecutive changeups or fastballs in the same exact spot to dangerous hitters). Thankfully, I didn't experience any consequence for simply ignoring my catcher's suggestions and hauling off and delivering the pitch I wanted in any given situation.

Corner pitching in MLB 2K9 is extremely easy and it's really no challenge at all to paint the black with pitch after pitch, even when you've pitched late into a game and you're hurler's stamina has worn down considerably. Because of this, I found that I didn't have to pitch to contact very often as I was able to reach double-digit strikeouts with relative ease. However, when the ball was put in play, I found myself cursing-out my digital fielders and yearning to throw my Wii-mote into the bleachers with startling regularity.